UPDATE (APR 19, 2009) — Unfortunately, Mark Senak had to pull out of the conference due to a last minute work commitment. However, not 5 mins after I tweeted about it, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a tweet from John Murray (Regulatory Contracting and Consulting, LLC.) offering to speak about “Exploring the realities of FDA regulation and creative opportunities in the here and now“. Another great example of the power and speed of Twitter! Glad to have John on board for Social Pharmer — please see below for the updated agenda.

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UPDATE (APR 8, 2009) — BIG NEWS… I am very excited to tell you that we have just added one more excellent speaker to the Social Pharmer roster — Josh Bernoff (@jbernoff / co-author, Groundswell) will present “How To Do Social Applications at a Pharma Company Without Getting Fired“. More specifically, “Josh will present data on medical conditions and the social activity of those who have them, and show a range of social strategies that apply based on this data and the risk tolerance of the company“.

Over the last few months, Josh has been researching and analyzing the adoption and implementation of social media programs in pharma/healthcare and is just about to publish a Forrester research report on the topic, so this presentation will be the first time that he will be sharing his insights from this research — HOW EXCITING!

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I am pleased to announce that HealthCamp Boston and Social Pharmer (Social Media in Pharma) will be taking place in Cambridge, MA on April 21st. If you’re involved or interested in how Social Media and Web 2.0 can facilitate and transform the BioPharma and healthcare industry, then you should definitely consider attending this event…

What’s a “HealthCamp” and a “Social Pharmer”, you say?

Well, HealthCamp is a barcamp/unconference style event dedicated to “…look at how the HealthCare sector can and will be transformed through Social Media, Open Standardsand Web 2.0 technologies. HealthCamp supports the Health 2.0 initiatives“.

So in that same vein, I’ve collaborated with the folks organizing HealthCamp Boston, to jointly hold an event that is tailored more towards the BioPharma industry, which I’ve called Social Pharmer: Sowing the Seeds of Social Media in BioPharma and Healthcare.

The vision for Social Pharmer is to have an open and honest discussion with our peers who share a common passion for engaging in Social Media within this highly regulated industry. While there will be presentations by some key practitioners and thought leaders in this area (see list below), the idea is not just for attendees to to listen, but also to intereact and have be part of the presenation — everyone’s a participant in an unconference; presenter or attendee alike!

Ultimately, the aim is not just to discuss issues being led by the presenters; but more importatnly, to allow what we learn and discuss during the course of the day to guide us in a “townhall discussion” at the end of the event, where we can try to develop some kind of basic “standard of practice” that will provide a framework/guideline that engenders “Social Pharming” in our industry.

Here’s the current agenda for Social Pharmer…

8:30am Breakfast and Registration

9:00am HealthCamp Boston & Social Pharmer Organizers (NEW)
>> HealthCamp Boston & Social Pharmer Official Kickoff
9:15am Shwen/Jack
>> Social Pharmer Opening Remarks
9:30am Fard Johnmar (UPDATE TIME)
>> Achieving Openess: Transparency and Autheticity in Pharma.
10:20am Michael Parks (UPDATE TIME)
>> Developing a Corporate Framework for Blogging and Social Media in Pharma.
11:10am John Murray (NEW)
>> Exploring The Realities of FDA Regulation and Creative Opportunities in the Here and Now.

12:00pm Lunch break

1:00pmSteve Woodruff (UPDATE TIME)
>> Key Business Needs that can be addressed NOW with Social Media.
2:00pm Josh Bernoff
>> How To Do Social Applications at a Pharma Company Without Getting Fired.
3:00pm Jack Barrette & Julie Wittes Schlack (UPDATE SPEAKER)
>> The Patient Perspective: What Do Patients Want from Pharma Engagement?
4:00pm Jack/Fard:Townhall Discussion
>> How Can We Collaborate to Breakdown Barriers to Social Media
>> and Save Pharma’s Battered Rep?
5:00pm Social Pharma adjourns

…Continue discussions at Cambridge Brewing Company (1 Kendall Sq # 100, Cambridge, MA 02139) (NEW)
…Please RSVP via Twtvite

I really hope to see you at Social Pharmer and/or HealthCamp Boston!